Moscow Raceway Circuit, August 17-18, 2019. GTE Racing Team sent two race cars in S1600 and Super Production classes to the home Moscow Raceway circuit near Moscow.
The main pilot of the team, Philipp Tuponosov, drove LADA Granta FL S1600, specially prepared by Lada Sport for the S1600 class, Vasily Vladykin was driving Mazda 3 race car, specially prepared for the Super Production class.
Thanks to its favorable location, Moscow Raceway traditionally attracts a lot of spectators from Moscow and the Moscow region, who came last weekend to watch the intense races of the SMP RCRS Championship, held on the track, which in its long history has hosted the most prestigious world circuit racing championships, including the German DTM Series, WTCR (former WTCC), as well as the World Superbike. The circuit near Moscow combines a lot of skill-requiring and tricky corners with constant changes in direction and a noticeable relief in the second sector, which makes the pilots work hard to achieve optimum lap times. Driving mistakes are also not uncommon and are found here more often than on the tracks that hosted the past rounds of the series.
According to the results of the S1600 class qualification, which took place on Friday, Philipp Tuponosov took 10th place on the starting grid of Saturday's race.
Unfortunately, three cars had to start the race from the pit lane again due to the decision of the RAF, including Philipp’s one and both drivers of the Lada Sport Rosneft team. The decision was purely technical and was connected with the requirement to install a new 31.5 mm restrictor on the engines of LADA Granta FL S1600. After the restrictor was installed, the engine of Philipp Tuponosov’s LADA Granta FL S1600 stopped generating necessary power at high rpm, which resulted in a 1.5 seconds loss on each lap because of two long straights and height differences in the Moscow Region track.
After the start from the pit lane, it took Philipp a few laps to catch up with the main group of drivers. On lap 3, Philipp caught up with Alexey Vdovin and performed an attack, which ended with a collision and U-turn due to the tough defense of Alexey. After the U-turn, Philipp was forced to continue driving on the damaged tyres and the main pilot of the GTE Racing Team could only hope to bring his damaged car to the finish line. Within a few laps remaining before the checkered flag, Philipp was able to win two positions back and finished in 13th place.
Philipp started Sunday's race in the 13th position. The main driver of the GTE Racing Team took the start smoothly and kept his position till lap 5. On lap 5, his LADA Granta FL S1600 hit an oil spot on the track remaining from the previous collisions. Philipp lost control and flew off the track. Once back on the track, Philipp's lag from his nearest rivals and damaged tyres left no chance for the main pilot of the GTE Racing Team to win back. Philipp saw the checkered flag in 14th place.
After the first six stages, Philipp is 9th in the S1600 class individual classification with 71 points.
In the Super Production class, GTE Racing Team pilot Vasily Vladykin failed the qualification because of engine issues.
Technical issues during the qualification resulted in only the 9th starting position for Vasily in Saturday's race. Due to heavy rains that almost flooded the circuit on Saturday afternoon, the race started in really difficult weather conditions and promised Vasily a good chance to win back. The race lasted 13 laps and was a real revelation for the pilots, as most of the starters made multiple mistakes in almost every corner of the track, which led to massive collisions and retirements. Vasily tried to drive as stable as possible, but at the end of a long back straight on lap 3, the GTE Racing Team pilot made a mistake during braking, which led to flying off to the gravel and withdrawal.
The Sunday's race, which was held on a dry track, was started by Vasily in the 9th place. The GTE Racing Team pilot was able to start steadily, and immediately get involved in a tight battle in the peloton, winning back three positions by the end of lap one. Vasily was clearly not going to stop there and kept an excellent race pace. Thanks to his speed and the penalties of his competitors for false starts, by the end of lap seven the GTE Racing Team pilot raised to the 3rd position, and the prospect of the season's first podium only gave Vasily motivation, but on lap nine the engine of Mazda 3 began to lose oil and Vasily was forced to retire out of the race.
After the first six stages, Vasily is 10th in the Super Production class individual classification with 21 points.
The final seventh stage of the 2019 SMP RCRS Championship will be held on September 7-8 at the Sochi Autodrom.